MLB.com's Jane Lee blogs about the Oakland A's

Cheers to Halladay … and Braden (again)

I’m thinking Dallas Braden is in bed right about now dreaming of another perfect game. After all, he was only allowed to celebrate his first one for 20 days before some guy by the name of Roy Halladay decided to do the same thing. In all honesty, though, a huge congratulations goes out to Doc, who did the unthinkable Saturday by recording baseball’s second perfecto in less than a month. Unlike Braden, he’s exactly the the type of pitcher with whom you correlate extraordinary events such as these. At the same time, you have to start wondering, as A’s strength and conditioning coach Bob Alejo said, about the uniqueness of perfect games now. Will they become a monthly happening before too long? I doubt it, but I had to laugh at Alejo’s comment: “It’s like the four-minute mile. Everyone’s going to start doing it.”

Well, if that’s true, Mr. Braden has a chance to continue the trend tomorrow when he faces the Tigers at Comerica Park. He’s coming off a start in which he left early due to a sprained ankle, so a perfect nine might not be in the cards. That’s OK, though, because the A’s won’t soon forget Braden’s special feat thanks to a gift he awarded them last week in honor of their help May 9.

To celebrate the perfect game, Braden shared one of his favorite rare luxuries, Crown Royal XR (“Extra Rare”), with each of his teammates, who received a bottle of XR with a personalized embroidered Crown Royal XR bag — complete with a congratulatory message commemorating the historic event.

“There is no perfect game without perfect teamwork,” Braden said. “I hope this will always remind them of the historic moment we shared together.”

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6 Comments

Good article. I really enjoy reading your blog and tweets, it takes me into the clubhouse, and I get to understand the personalities behind the names in the box score. Since I haven’t been at Spring Training in a few years (went three years running, always saw the A’s, because they were by far the best team for signing autographs – now there’s a future column – plus they’ve been my team ever since the days of the Big Three).

I’m Canadian, so I get to see very few A’s games on TV, but I try to follow along as best I can, and your blog and tweets make it so easy to do that. Thanks and keep up the great work!

Hi! Makes sense and I pretty much do the same thing when I’m comnig up with something. There has to be a balance too don’t want to read too much on something and lose your ideas completely or write too much of what everyone else is doing. On the other hand, researching will show you what is working and what isn’t in the genre/topic you’re writing.I believe actors do something similar where they live the part they’re learning to really get in the head of the characters.It’s good advice and works!Thanks Lucy!Renee Vickers

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